SOUTH AUSTRALIAN STATE UNIFORMS (1908-1929)

1908 (June)

STATE COLOURS DECIDED

The SAFA's failed push of 1907 to adopt uniform State sporting colours was revived on the afternoon of February 10th, 1908 when representatives of different sporting bodies met to discuss the issue and formed a subcommittee to come up with a "definite scheme of colours". [The Register, 11-2-1908]

By February 27th it was being reported that the subcommittee had decided on brown with turquoise blue lacings as the new sporting colours: "The combination of these colours is left to the discretion of each sporting body but brown must be the predominating colour... the colours chosen are pretty and effective." [Evening Journal, 27-2-1908]

Readers of Adelaide newspaper the Critic were left in no doubt that their football correspondent was a fan of the new colours:

"The colours are brown and blue. They blend beautifully, and will lend themselves to pretty combinations either as guernseys for footballers or lacrosseurs. or blazers for cricketers, bowlers, tennis players or rowing. On a hatband they look artistic, and it should be possible to agree upon a device which all interstate players may wear upon their hats, caps or blazers.The Cricket Association may find it a wrench to give up that red, yellow, and black which has been its glaring colours for over 30 years, but it is hoped that for the sake of uniformity it will come into line with the rest of the athletic bodies". [Critic, 11-3-1908, p.30]

June 20, 1908 vs VFA

This match marked the official unveiling of South Australia's new sporting colours. The brown jumper was paired with navy knicks and worn loose (or outside the jumper) to show-off the turquoise panel along the base.

1908 (August)

1908 Carnival

Virtually all of the States participating in the inaugural carnival wore newly designed uniforms for the occasion. South Australia were no exception, adopting this lace-up jacket.

Other changes from the new design unveiled in June were:- the turquoise band moving from the base to the middle of the uniform - the navy blue knicks changed to white knee-length shorts (this was a common trend at this time with a number of representative teams and league clubs changing to the new, not-so short shorts).

Due to the cold weather during the carnival a number of players wore the June 1908 jumpers underneath the new lace-up jackets (see image above right).

1909-1910

A return to the June 1908 uniform, minus the turquoise band along the base of the jumper.

Note: the top of this band is still visible in some action shots from the 1909 matches on players whose jumper had become slightly untucked. However, the new white shorts were worn higher on the jumper than the old knicks and obscured the band when the jumper was fully tucked-in.

1911-1912

1911 National Carnival

The wearing of numbers by all teams was a unique feature of the second Australian football championships and the South Australians added a white number panel to the back of their jumpers with undersized black numbers.

To this point in the game's history they had only been trialled on a handful of occasions:

Later in 1911 the VFL clubs adopted numbers during their finals series and by 1912 numbers had become a standard part of club and representative uniforms.

1913-1914

The number panel was replaced by oversized, turquoise numbers

1919 (July)

July 5, 1919 vs Victoria

South Australia were forced to take the field in makeshift jumpers for their first interstate match in five years. A new set of 1914-style jumpers with turquoise blue facings had been ordered from England but did not arrive in time due to a strike by dock workers that had started in Fremantle in May 1919 and spread-Australia-wide by July. [The Advertiser, 7-7-1919]

1919 (August)-1920

August 2, 1919 vs Victoria

The shipping strike that had plagued Australia since May finally ended in late-July, allowing the South Australian team to wear their new jerseys for this match at the MCG. The "new" jumpers were a return to the design worn from 1909 to 1914.

1921

1921 National Carnival

A National Carnival was again the catalyst for change, with the South Australians replacing the thin band across the front and back shoulders of the jumper with a large turquoise band. The gap between the two bands on the sleeves also became much wider.

NOTE - a handful of players wore jumpers that had the normal width bands on the sleeves. These jumpers also had no dividing line between the neck of the jumper and the thick turquoise band across the shoulders.

1922

The gap between the two bands on the sleeves returned to the pre-1921 width, and all jumpers now had the dividing line between the neck and the band across the shoulders.

1923 (June)

June 9, 1923 vs Western Australia

To this point in the game's history lace-up jackets were short-sleeved and woollen jumpers were long-sleeved. This 1923 South Australian design was the first sleeveless woollen jumper.*

The turquoise band from the old design was changed to two turquoise braces and the numbers changed from turquoise to white.

*(traditionally, a number of players issued with long-sleeved jumpers would cut the sleeves off in warm conditions. Jumpers modified in this way had no tailored trim at the shoulders and are easily identified in matchday action photos)

1923 (June)-1924

June 30, 1923 vs Victoria

For their second interstate match of the 1923 season the South Australians decided to break with tradition and wear blue knicks for the first time since 1908. The crowd and the press at the Adelaide Oval approved of the change:

"Everybody who saw the interstate match... will agree that the dark blue knickers worn by the South Australians added to the interest of the game in that they rendered the opposing players much more easily distinguishable." [The Journal, 6-7-1923, p.4]

In the days after the match the SAFL decided to wear blue knicks in all future interstate matches, due largely to the fact both Victoria and Western Australia wore white knicks at that time.

1925-1926

Following the 1924 National Carnival the search for another design commenced, with the SAFL eventually settling on this design; the first to feature an S.A. monogram on the jumper front. The other change was the move from dark blue to navy blue knicks.

1927 (National Carnival)

1927 - official uniform (sleeveless)

1927 - official uniform (long-sleeved)

As had become the norm, the tri-annual National Carnival triggered another uniform change, with the SANFL adopting a larger (and more legible) monogram for their new jumpers. The majority of the players wore short-sleeved jumpers but a handful of players wore the long-sleeved version pictured above right.

1928-1929

For the 1928-29 seasons the long-sleeved jumper was no longer issued and the sleeveless design became the official uniform.

1928 (July)

July 28, 1928 vs Western Australia

For this match played at the Adelaide Oval, the entire team fought off the cold weather by wearing a set of the 1927 long-sleeved jumpers under their 1928 short-sleeved kit.